The Northern Neck region of Virginia has a rural economy based around industries like commercial fishing, timber, and family farms that have struggled in recent years. To address issues like a lack of jobs and opportunities for youth, the region developed an economic development plan through a state program. This identified partnerships and collaboration as keys to creating new institutions. Partners like a community college, development corporation, and state agencies have worked together to open business incubators offering training, coworking space, and mentoring to support entrepreneurs. Their collaboration has helped launch new businesses and provides a model to replicate across the region to strengthen the local economy through ongoing support of small businesses.

1. Partnerships & Progress
An ecosystem is a community of living and non-
living things that work together.

2. • Geography – remote, coastal plain, rural, surrounded by water
between the Potomac & Rappahannock Rivers
• History - home of the Lees of Virginia, and birthplace of
George Washington, James Monroe and James Madison
• Transportation - 2-lane roads, occasional 4-lane sections, no
interstates, no train, no passenger ferries, no airports
• Infrastructure – recent, uncertain cell phone and wireless
internet coverage
• Existing industries – commercial fishing industry reduced,
timber industry suffered from new home building decline,
family farms pressured by development, service industries
around tourism, retirement, and healthcare

3. • Program - Northern Neck region was selected for the
Strengthening Economies Together program, already an
Economic Development District
• Plan - Product of SET – Northern Neck Economic
Development Plan identified priorities & action items which
gave focus to future efforts
• Issues – Youth/Workforce age hemorrhage due to lack of jobs,
low educational attainment for existing workforce, few
opportunities
Forward-looking change necessary to address issues; current
ecosystem inadequate –need for deeper, broader collaboration
to create new institutions & partnerships

4. Navigating: Identifying strategic partnerships, and leveraging strengths,
resources
- Building public & private sector partnerships
- Including everyone. MACorp – had the space, the interest & an
engaged community together with NNPDC, with grant writing capability, so that
the UMW SBDC could expand its training offering more broadly in the
community…DHCD’s BCC Grant
……………..Where community development meets economic development

5. One open incubator, and another one to be open in Summer,
training sessions underway, including a Youth Entrepreneurship
Camp. Conference facilities, co-working space, and teleworking.
Professionals in law, accounting, banking included in training;
wholistic approach with mentoring, plans for access to capital
and connectivity to resources already present in community
• A new business – a coffee shop will be opening on the first
floor of the incubator
• All thanks to the momentum of the partners & a Building
Collaborative Communities Grant from DHCD…

6. Needs to take root…
- Ongoing training
- Access to capital – BEE Grant and
partnership with UMW Center for Economic
Development to capitalize & operate a
NanoLoan fund
- Opening of successive incubators with same
partners - replicate what works

7. Lisa Hull
Economic Development & Tourism Coordinator
Northern Neck Planning District Commission
P.O. Box 1707
Warsaw, VA 22579
lhull@nnpdc17.state.va.us